The Weeping Angels are back, and they attack our privacy via smart TVs

One fundamental difference between traditional television sets and smart televisions is that the latter are connected to the internet. Like other connected devices, smart TVs make it possible to track what users do online and even offline, and therefore trigger privacy and data protection issues. We recently argued that the issue of media users’ privacy requires special attention from policymakers, not only from the perspective of data protection law, but also from media and communication law and policy. Tracking what people watch online can reveal sensitive insights into individual interests, political leanings, religious beliefs and cultural identity. In our article we challenge the lack of attention in media policy for the specific concerns about viewers’ privacy and data protection at the EU level. The latest revelations about the CIA’s attempts to turn smart TVs into eavesdropping devices (innocuously named Weeping Angel) just underscore how sensitive the issue of media users’ privacy really is, and how badly it needs protection.